Hello all,
I am very new to documentary film. In an attempt to gain
knowledge and advice, I joined this site. Hopefully this isn't the
fanciful idea of a 22 year old. I really want to get started and
have no idea where. Anyway, hello and thank you for this wonderful
site.

I'm so excited to have found this community and know there will be
tons to learn here. I'm about to embark on a documentary project
after a long hiatus from filmmaking that dragged me through the muck
of high-tech and landed me in the funeral business, which is the
subject of my project.

I'm really looking forward to reading the posts and discussions here
and would always greatly appreciate any information and suggestions
anyone has.

Hi Doug & all,
I live in Atlanta, and previously spent 12 years in Florida working
in broadcast & corp TV ( mostly as a news videographer and editor)
Then switched to writing and editing corporate video, shooting
freelance, and made a half hour doc about 1930's and 1940's aviators
and their aircraft. Becoming frustrated with distribution and the
lack of money I left TV to become a web programmer from '93 to 2001.

Now I have just produced another corp sales video on DV and edited a
musician demo. I am developing a couple of non-fiction concepts that
I want to take to cable distribution. I am trying to learn
everything I can about the business side because that was always my
problem in the past. DV solves half the problem of creating your own
docs. But distribution is always the big question.

I'm here to learn or share whatever I can. It's good to have a way
to talk to other Documentary/Reality TV makers.

hi everyone,
Just wanted to say hello and thanks for providing such a useful
site. I'm working on a film dealing with women that are abuse
survivors and outside of making a film about it, we are offering a
workshop for abuse survivors where they will be able to learn about
video medium as a way to express themselves and further their healing.www.doggeddrama.com/Docudrama.htm

My name is Kate Slovich. I'm a producer, mainly focusing on
anthropological documentaries. I'm currently producing a documentary
on inner city education. I'm hoping to pick up some tech and
equipment tips on this forum, specifically relating to audio.

The director has asked me to provide a suggested equipment list and
the tech side of the biz isn't my strong suite as a producer. I'd
love any suggestions that the group could give me so I can present a
great proposal.

We're working with a $10,000 equipment budget (not including DV cam)
and we'll be shooting in inner city schools, homes and neighborhoods
over the next two years. Thanks in advance for the help.

Wow...what a great site!!! Im new to documentary film and have been searching for a way
to get into contact with others who have experience and passion for documentary
filmmaking.....i could use all the knowledge and advice I can get!!! Im a 21 yr old student
who is about to graduate in 2 months and move back home to NYC where i will enter the
"real world." Im quite overwhelmed and dont know where to start, so if anyone has any
advice...please dont hold back!!!!. i look forward to talking to many of you and changing
the world through revealing truth!!
much peace and love,
deborah

My name is Samuel Michon. I'm a production designer and
visual artist based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
I've been wanting to move into documentary filmmaking
for quite some time and have gone to all the major
festivals, like IDFA, for years. I've been doing
research for a pet project of mine since '98, on the
development of the Paddington neighborhood in London
(and how domestic travel by rail has influenced the
area, it was one of the first major hubs in the UK) -
not a lot of shooting has gone into it yet though,
nor do I see the production taking flight soon.

I am however in the middle of securing capital for a
documentary on the resistance that quite a few foreign
exchange students (mainly from teh US and Scandinavia)
are experiencing with the teachers and management of
several universities in The Netherlands. There's plenty
of action there, with lawsuits and whatnot, but above
all, a personal story of one Jewish-American exchange
student foreign to Dutch language, culture, and
legislation - who is now trying a David-and-Goliath case
against the education boards, exposing this dire
situation (which because of the fragility of the matter
I can't expand on at this stage). I have the privilege
to move in before the big media do, and document it.

The biggest challenges for me in this project, I have
found, are scripting it in advance - staying on top of
what all the different outcomes can be - and
(in a trial-run) shooting in a way so that it's not just
talking heads, but actually *showing* the story.
I'm creative though, I've come up with some solutions to
that - even though I bet they're unorthodox, because
I haven't directly jumped for the aid of more
experienced doccers (as yet).

Anyhow, I've been perusing these message boards for a
while now, and it's been a real help. There's so much to
making a documentary, and while I am lucky to have a
light and sound guy, it's challenging to do the combo of
writer-director-DP-producer all at the same time
(I don't even want to think about editing; I already
feel way too content to have found a decent soundtrack
by a well-known artist who stands behind the project -
living the illusion of thinking I'll have sufficient
perspective after wrapping that I can single-handedly
edit the piece and end up with something that people
will want to see, is unforgiveable, I know.)

Great forum, I will definitely keep coming around
looking for clues here.

(btw, for some reason I can't get auto-wrap to work
on Safari 1.2 - so my apologies for the bump-'n-erase
earlier - this is a manually wrapped post.)

I've been working as an asst. editor for the past couple years in a
post facility, and have also made some short personal films which
have played at a few festivals.
Over the last several months I've embarked on a rather large &
long-term project (my first) - a documentary about this wonderfully
talented Cuban classical pianist/cabaret singer who is a transgender
person living in San Francisco. At the moment I'm fearing I've
bitten off more than I can chew, but look forward to perusing the
forums here to seek wisdom, inspiration, advice and ... sanity?
Thanks for hosting this!
Maureen

I am a 17year old filmmaker. I have several fictionfilms( and stille
are), but I have always had a passion for documentaries.
I am making my first real atempt at a doc. as I am writing this.
I believe in the "personal-documentary" and one of my favourite films
are FAMILY, a danish documentary about a young filmmaker trying to
find his roots.

Hi. My name is Lora and I am also new to filmmaking. I've made
three fictional short films. I am currently working on my first
documentary about the paranormal and am looking for information and
guidance from any resources I can find on the net.
This site has been the best resource I have found so far.
I look forward to learning!

First, an introduction. I am an independent producer working on my first
documentary (I've worked in corporate video for many years). It is about
fragile X syndrome, which is the leading known cause of inherited mental
disability and autism. There is a load of information about the doc on our web
site:http://www.thinkmediaonline.com

My question is this: does anyone know where I can find legal info about the
circumstances under which I need releases from people who will appear in
our doc? I've been getting releases from primary participants (interviewees,
etc.), but what about people who are at a street festival, for example, or in a
grocery store, that end up on-camera? Do I have to get releases from them
too? Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks,
Kathy

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